Industry: Third-party logistics (3PL)
Operation: 250,000 sq ft multi-client warehouse, 12 dock doors, 800–1,200 inbound lines/day
Geography: United States
Challenge: Slow inbound processing, inconsistent dimensional data, recurring client billing disputes
Inbound receiving was fully manual: dock staff counted pieces, weighed on portable scales, taped dimensions, and keyed everything into the WMS. Average dock-to-stock time: 4.2 hours. During peak, backlogs hit 18 hours, delaying outbound picks for e-commerce clients with same-day SLAs.
The 3PL billed clients for storage by the cubic meter. Because dimensions were skipped during high-volume receipts, 22% of SKUs had incorrect dimensional data — generating disputes that clients routinely escalated.
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Avg. dock-to-stock time | 4.2 hours | 1.8 hours (−58%) |
| Peak season dock-to-stock | 18 hours | 4.1 hours |
| SKUs with correct dimensional data | 78% | 99.6% |
| Storage billing disputes/month | 23 | 1 |
| Inbound receiving FTEs | 6 | 4 (2 reallocated) |
| Measurement time per line | 45 sec | <1 sec |
Pick productivity improved 14% over 6 months. With accurate dimensional data in the slotting module, SKUs were assigned to correctly-sized locations at optimal pick distances.
Investment: $52,000. Labor savings: $84,000/yr. Billing recovery: $34,000/yr. Pick productivity: $28,000/yr est.
Total first-year ROI: 280%. Payback: 4.4 months.
Schedule a warehouse assessment to map the measurement gaps in your 3PL operation.